1. Field of the Invention
The present invention concerns a steering control for self-propelled vehicles, such as motorcycles, automobiles, etc., including a sensor that reacts to deviations in the shape or volume of a gripping zone of the steering control, and in which the sensor is connected to a control or monitoring element that is activated by reaction of the sensor.
2. Discussion of Background Information
A steering control device of the type mentioned is described in detail in commonly owned EP121691 1A2. This patent application thus constitutes the state of the art pertaining to the present invention, which aims at presenting an improvement of the same. The entire contents of the EP1216911 A2 thus is integrated into the description of the present patent application.
The EP-1216911A2 document describes and shows a steering control in a steering wheel of an automobile, or of a handlebar of a motor cycle, provided with a gripping zone of elastically variable geometry, inside which an electric, a pneumatic, or a hydraulic, sensor is located. This sensor reacts to changes to the form and/or the volume of the gripping zone. The sensor according to the invention is connected to at least one control element and/or to a device monitoring the functionality of the vehicle in such a manner that the safety control device is activated by the reaction of the sensor.
Practical realization of the concept described in EP-1216911A2 led to the experience that this concept calls for improvements that considerably increase the driving safety of the vehicle. Such improvements thus are the objective of the present invention.
A first finding from practical experience indicates that pneumatic sensors, and still better, hydraulic sensors, present reliable functionality as they permit—other than the ones using electrical micro-switches reacting to elastic deformation of the steering control, as already known from the general state of the art—picking up an analogue signal of the pressure exerted by the hand onto the steering wheel or handlebar. A signal of this type presents the great advantage over a signal of digital open/closed type emitted by an electric switch, of reproducing in simple but correct form—without complex electronic devices—the quality of the reactions of the driver, i.e., the degree of driver fear or panic induced by unexpected and unforeseeable situations.